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NHRA: Topeka NHRA Chevy Final Eliminations Notes

4 October 1999

WHIT BAZEMORE ADVANCES, RON CAPPS OUSTED BY JOHN FORCE

WHIT BAZEMORE, KENDALL OIL/SUPERWINCH CAMARO Z28, defeated Larry Huff in
the first round (5.427/262.95 for Whit, 14.968/64.07 for Huff) to advance
to the second round, where he'll face Frank Pedregon.

RON CAPPS, COPENHAGEN CAMARO Z28, defending Funny Car champion here, was
ousted by John Force in the first round, 5.742/218.51 for Capps,
4.843/287.96 for Force.

CAPPS:  "We put ourselves in jeopardy qualifying where we did (No. 14). 
This is Dale's (Armstrong) first race with the Camaro.  It's just a matter
of trying to get acclimated to the car.  It's like when Roland (Leong,
former crew chief) came on in '97 and turned things around for us.  It took
him awhile to get used to the car and get things turned around like he did.
 Having Dale Armstrong, who is arguably one of the top crew chiefs on the
grounds, tuning this car is very exciting for everybody, including me as a
driver.  You can't put too much pressure on because he's just taken the car
over.  Things are only going to get better and we will be a big threat at
these races coming up.  To be honest with you, we are doing a lot of
testing for next year."  ON RUNNING AGAINST FORCE:  "You know you are going
to have a tough race when the air is cool, which gives John Force a great
chance to run really close to the national record.  I tried to just do my
job and cut the Christmas Tree down as good as I could and try to leave the
best I can and see what happens.  Dale has been fighting this clutch all
weekend.  It shook again real bad and Force drove right around me and I had
a great seat for his 4.84 run.  It shook so bad it shook my foot right off
the throttle loop.  When I could finally get my foot back on the throttle
pedal I got back on the throttle, but by that time Force was pulling away
pretty good.  There was no need to stand on the throttle and take a chance
of getting on fire again.  We don't need to burn up anymore Camaro bodies."

NOTE:  These are the only two Camaros competing regularly in the Funny Car
category.

PRO STOCK -- CAMARO Z28 

Both Chevy Camaros advanced to the second round:  KURT JOHNSON, ACDELCO
CAMARO Z28, by defeating Jim Yates with his 6.905/199.11 lap to Yates'
8.847/107.03, and MIKE EDWARDS, DEWCO PERFORMANCE CAMARO Z28, the master of
reaction times, eliminated Richie Stevens.  No. 16 qualifier Edwards
defeated No. 1 Stevens on a holeshot advantage with his .443 reaction time
to Stevens' .465.  Stevens' 6.921/197.77 topped Edwards' 6.929/197.42 pass.

NOTE:  THE EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL MONDAY 11 A.M. (FOR THE PRO
CATEGORIES) DUE TO COLD TEMPERATURES.

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